Plug In America: "Plug-in vehicles of today are what cell phones were in 1987"

For years, Plug In America's raison d'être was to get plug-in vehicles from major automakers on the road. Now that these vehicles are available, PIA is slightly shifting focus: to get more and better electric vehicles out there.

To do this, it needs members. In the group's latest email encouraging people to join the movement, there is an interesting line: "The truth is, the plug-in vehicles of today are what cell phones were in 1987; new, and exciting, but a long way from being accessible." When we think about EVs this way and try to remember what a cell phones looked like in 1987 (the closest we can do is The Dude's phone, but that was the early 1990s), then we can't wait for the next few decades of advancement. You?

Years ago, when our EV1s and RAV4s were taken away from us and crushed, the automakers were the enemy. We never imagined that Plug In America would one day sit on the same panel as executives from GM and Toyota. But things have changed and car companies are starting to make enough plug-in vehicles to make a dent in the market; and, more importantly, a dent in our world.

Because of you, the auto industry went from crushing our cars to making our cars. Your voice demanded the Leaf; your vision molded the Volt; your passion inspired the Tesla. These cars were just dreams, but when you stood with Plug In America and demanded a better way to drive, plug-in vehicles found their way back onto our roads. Your voice brought us a new world of plug-in vehicles; think about what we could accomplish with your membership.

The truth is, the plug-in vehicles of today are what cell phones were in 1987; new, and exciting, but a long way from being accessible. The future is brightest when it is driven on electricity, but we have a lot of work to do to get there. We could not put the cars on the road without you, and we can not build the future without you either. It took nearly fourteen years before we got to that place with our cell phones; let us not wait that long for our cars.

Last week as we sat on that panel with GM and Toyota, one of the executives told a story about Henry Ford. Shortly after the American auto industry took off, a reporter asked Ford how he knew it would be so successful. How could he tell that this was what the masses wanted? Ford responded, "If I'd listened to the masses, I would have built a faster horse." Let's make sure the loudest voice today, isn't one calling for a faster horse. Join Plug In America today!

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